Electrically wound and set watch



Nov. 10, 1953 A R. NELSON ELECTRICALLY WOUND AND SET WATCH Filed Feb. 4, 1946 I llvllll v.

INVENTOR.

4 0 f a Na R N m M a Y B ww ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRICALLY WOUND AND SET WATCH Anton'R. Nelson, Burlingame, Calif.

Application February 4, 1946, Serial No. 645,325

12 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a watch which is adapted to be electrically wound and set.

The object of the present invention is toprovide anelectrically actuated winding mechanism whereby the mainspring of a watch may be woundonce during a predetermined timeperiod, for instance once during each twenty-four hours; to provide means whereby the mainspring f the watchis not'only wound but the watch is also;v automatically reset to correct time; and further, to provide a watch in which all exterior Winding and setting mechanism may be entirely eliminated and the watch sealed against entrance'of dust or moisture.

The Watch is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. '1 is "a diagrammatic showing of a watch constructed in accordance with the present invention and the master control clock by which it is-wound and set;

Fig. 2is a detailed view showing apawl which secures gear lQ-against reverse rotation;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section taken on line IIIIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detailed side elevation of the stop works;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the closed position of a time control switch actuated by a master clock, and

Fig.6 is a front elevational view of a suitable master control clock, the cooperative relationship of thewatch to the winding-and-setting means of the clock being illustrated in dotted lines.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly l, A, A" indicate the front and rear frame plates. respec ively, of a watch, A an intermediate frame plate, the escapement mechanism with its balance wheel 0, D the center post with its minutehand M secured thereto, F the hour sleeve with the hour hand H secured thereto; G the twelve to one gear train connecting the center post and the hour hand sleeve, J the second hand shaft and S the second hand secured thereto. lhe watch mechanism as a whole is generally designated W.

The winding and setting mechanism is: novel and isconstructed as follows.

Secured to the winding arbor 2,to which'one end of the main spring 52 is secured, is a gear 4 which meshes with apinicn seculed'on the center pest D. Theether end of the mainspring is attachedto the-mainspring housing i which in turn-issecured to theplate [1". Also secured on the center post D is a gear 8* which meshes with pinion i secured on a shaitii. Secured to shaftB isan arm a on the outer end of which is journaled a bevel gear pinion it) which meshes a pair of bevel gears ii and 52. .Gear H has a spur gear l-i secured to its outer face and a spur gear !5 is-siinilarly secured to the outer face of the gear l2. Gears ii and time secured on a sleeve l6 whilegears and it are secured on a sleeve IT. The sleeves it and H are both mounted on the shaft 8 and are freely rotatable thereon. The bevel gearsid, i i and i2 form a gear differential.

Journaled between the rear frame plate A and an inter; .edlate frame plate A is a shaft i8. Secured on this shaft is a gear is and a pinion 2i last named pinion meshing with gear i i. A spring pawl 26 engages the teeth of gear !9 to prevent rotation theerof under the influence of the main spring. Gear I 9 on the other hand meshes a pinion 2i secured on a shaft 22. This shaft aligns with and extends into the center 7 post D butit is freely rotatable with relationto the center post and it carries a thin disc 23.0011- structed of hard steel. This disc will hereinafter be referred to as therotor.

The second hand shaft J carries a pinion 24 which meshes and is driven by the gear 15. A gear is is also secured on the second hand shaft and this drives the escapement movementin the usual manner.

In order that both winding and unwinding of the main driving spring 3 may be limited, a stop works is provided. This consists of a driver 2'! whichis secured to the mainsprin arbor 2. Cooperating with the driver is a Geneva member 28. This is rotatably mounted on the pin 29 secured to the front frame plate A. In the present instance the Geneva member shown limits rotation of the arbor E and driver 2'? to five revolutions in either direction and then functions as a positivestop. Thisis due to the fact that the Geneva member is divided into six lugs witha lug {iii functioning as the stop lug, but obviously a stop works permitting more or less revolutions maybe employed.

inF-fig. ,1 the winding motor is shown diagrammatically at R. The field magnets of the motor R are shown at 32 and the field coil is indicated at fie while the shading coils are indicated at ct-et, the rotor 23 being mounted within the watch.

in actual practice the winding motor R is positioned hor'acntally within the base P of the clock P. Hence, it will only be'necessaryto lay the watch to be wound on the base in a central position above the shading coils 3333.

It was previously stated that the stop works control both the winding and unwinding of the mainspring It, and it was also stated that the minute hand was securely fastened to the center post 13 while the hour hand H was secured to the hour sleeve F, and as this is the case, it is obvious that the hands of the watch will always come to rest at a predetermined time when the spring is wound and comes to a stop by means of the stop lug 30.

In the present instance let it be assumed that when the stop works or the lug 30 stops further winding of the mainspring 3, that the minute hand will stop at the hour twelve and the hour hand at the hour three as shown on the drawing.

The master clock is a synchronous electric time switch clock including switch-actuating members 3t and M, which may be of the cam type, and which are connected to and control the opening and closing of the contacts of switch 38 in series with the field coil 32 of winding motor Ft. Switch-actuating members are driven by the clock P in any conventional manner as to effect the closing and opening of switch 38 at predetermined time intervals, as for example closing switch at 2:45 and opening it at 3:00 during each twelve-hour period. There is nothing new about this clock since a large number of different makes of time-switch clocks have been on the market for years. However, it is essential to the operation of the present inventionsince at a predetermined time, say ten or fifteen minutes to three oclock, the switch 33 is closed completing the circuit through field coil thus producing a rotating magnetic field in the motor R. The rotor 23 is positioned inside the case of the watch and when placed adjacent said rotating magnetic field will rotate and drive the gears 21 and I9, shaft 18 and the gear 2d and as the gear 20 meshes with gear M power will be transmitted to rotate one side of the differential. The shaft 8 is accordingly rotated and power is thus transmitted through the gears "i and 5 to rotate the center wheel assembly, which includes the hour and minute hands, backwards. Gears 5 and 4 will also be rotated backwards rewinding the mainspring until stopworks become locked stalling the rotor 23. At this point the hands will be positioned at the predetermined time, say 3:00 oclock. If the watch has run down four turns of the mainspring arbor 2, the latter will be rewound four turns. In other words, the mainspring arbor will be rewound exactly the same number of turns that it has run down, and it will stop when the tooth on driver 2! (Fig. 4) strikes the peripheral surface of the wide lug of the Geneva member 28.

The winding process does not stop the running of the time train or escapement mechanism due to the presence of the diiierential. With the rotor til driving the bevel pinion H3 at a rotational speed greater than that necessary to actuate the escapement mechanism the result Which follows is that gear 10 travels around the escapement-connected bevel gear l2 carrying with it connected arm 9 in a direction opposite to its normal direction of travel when driven by mainspring 3. As the arm 9 is directly connected through gears to the mainspring 3 the latter is wound upon this movement of the arm. The escapement continues to operate during the entire winding operation and the travel of the arm 9 continues until further winding of the spring is prevented, as stated, by the driver 21 enga ing the wide lug 30 on Geneva member 28. Fur ther travel of the arm 9 being prevented, the rotation of rotor 23 is also stopped and at this instant the watch is set at the predetermined setting, for example, 3:00 oclock. With the rotor 23 stopped, and with it the bevel gear H, power to actuate the escapement mechanism is available from both the mainspring 3 connected through gears as described to the shaft 8 carrying the arm 9, and also from the rotor 23 con nected, as described, to the bevel gear II and through it to the bevel pinion I0. The delivery of this power results in the rotation of bevel pinion lil producing the rotation of the escapementconnected bevel gear IL. The spring 3 unwinds slightly, of course, in delivering its power and this unwinding is accompanied by the displacement of the driver 2'! from its contact with the lug 36 of Geneva member 26. The delivery of power from the rotor is, of course, accompanied by its rotation and the rotation of bevel gear ll connected through gears to it as described. Starting from a standing non-rotating condition the rotor 23 does not rotate bevel pinion it fast enough to take care of the rotation of escapement-connected bevel gear l2 and, under the power of the mainspring 3, post t carrying that pinion is displaced in its normal direction of revolution. As rotor 23 increases its speed, however, the rotor-driven bevel gear l I rotates faster until it more than accommodates the speed of rotation of bevel pinion l0 and reverses the direction of travel or post 9 which means, of course, that the mainspring 3 is again being wound. This operation will continue until the driver 2? again strikes the stop lug 30 of Geneva mem her at which time the cycle will be repeated. This cyclic operation with the niainspring 3 being tightly wound and slightly unwound continues until the master clock P reaches the hour for which the watch is set at which time the switch-actuating members 3% and 37 open the control switch 38 and the winding rotor R is deenergized. Thereafter the watch operates as a watch under its own power with a starting time comprising the predetermined setting, for example, 3:00 oclock.

In further explanation of the operation during the winding period, assume a condition in which the mainspring 3 is fully wound, the escapement mechanism B controls the movement of the second hand S to which the spring 3 is connected through the gear train and including the differential drive comprising the pinion [0. Let us assume a given instant in which the escapement stops all movement and the spring has been fully wound by the rotor 23 which is also stopped. Upon the movement of the escapement mechanism the second hand S moves forwardly under a power derived from the gear l5 which power in turn is derived from the pinion It. There are two sources of power at that particular instant and the question is which source is going to provide the power. If the force comes from the spring 3, it will begin to unwind. If the force comes solely from the magnetically actuated rotor 23, then the spring will be held tightly wound. If the escapement mechanism B permitted the rotation of the gear I5 at a sufficiently high rate, and if the acceleration rates of the gear trains driven by the spring and by the rotor were the same, power might well be provided simultaneously by both power sources. If the rate of rotation of the gear It were sufficiently slow, and if the acceleration rate of the rotor-driven train were 1 sufficiently great, then all the power might be 'derived from=that'-souroe. Conversely if i the acceleration rate-of the gear t'rain driven by the-spring 3 were sufiiciently great, as compared'to that of the'gear train driven by the rotor then the power would 'be derived from the spring-t.

The actual fact is, in the preferred=relationship, that upon'the'spring becoming completely wound it unwinds slightlyandthereafter is again wound. This is because the acceleration rate of the gear train driven by the spring is greater than that'of the gear traindrivenby the rotor, "permitting the spring to become'unwound slightly. But, upon the rotor-driven gear train accelerating sufficiently, the direction of travel of the post 9 carryingthe power transmitting'pinion- [53 is reversed and thespring is again wound. This operation cycle repeats itself after the spring has become completely wound and so long as the watch remains upon the parent-clock. The periodicity or" the return of'the driver '2'! to the side lug indicationof the return of the spring d'to a'coinpletely rewoundcondition,

is-not'of the essence. Once the spring'has' been I completely wound'and rotation of the magnetically driven rotor 23 has stopped, the spring again begins to-unwind driving the arm'l in'its normal-direction, the bevel pinion it! riding upon the bevel gears ii and [2, the latter driving the escapement. Immediately the rotor 'Zabegins to rotate and drives the bevel gear H which,

upon reaching a speed of rotation greater than the advance of the bevel pinionlil on its surface reverses the directionof travel of arm 9 and again takes up the slack. in spring 3. If it were not for the pawl zt preventing the'gear 9 from rotating in a direction the reverse of that at which itis driven by the rotorjthe mainspring would drive the rotor backwards upon the circuit being broken, and the said spring woul'd'be quickly'run down. The watch mechanism including the escapement is-solelydriven by the 'mainspring' in the normal manner'as'soon as the circuit isbrokenfthe gear l9 being'held against reverse rotation bythe pawl. "The watch requires approximately five minutes to wind everytwenty-four hours, eight m'inutesif 'fully run down, hence the ten or fifteen minute winding period.

Being wound and. reset every twenty-four hours intervening losses'andgains'will be elimihated and an accumulationthereof over'a period of several daysavoided.

Fromthe ioregoingit' shouldbe obvious that a watchof this character 'requires'no exterior winding or setting mechanism. Thi makes it possible to produce-a watch which may be hermeticallysealed against entrance of dust ormois- 'ture. Furthermore,itinakes'it possible toproduce a watch whichwillshow'substantially'cor- "rect time the year aroundyand'a watch which maybe cheaply manufactured since jewel bearings, expensive escapeinent, etc., are unessential cally described and illustrated, it should be understood that changes'may be resorted to within 'thescope of the appended'claims andthat the tions or uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what'i claim and 'desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

While this and other "features of' the invention have'been more or'lessspeciih including a spr 1. =In a timepiece, a timeindicaton a' movement includinga driving spring connected'to said indicator, a rotor, means mounting said rotor for rotationby a rotating-magneticfield when said rotor is within the influence-of such field, means "connecting said rotor with said spring and with said time indicator for winding said spring and for simultaneously setting said time indicator upon the rotation of said rotor, means to limit the winding of said spring and to fix the setting of said indicator, and means to prevent the reverse rotation-of said rotor by said spring upon the removal of said rotor from said field.

2(In-ati1nepiece, a time indicator, a movement inc'ludingadriving spring connected to said indicator, arotor, means mounting said rotor for rotation by a rotating magnetic field when said rotor is Within the influence of such field, means connecting said rotor with said spring and with said time indicator for winding said spring and for simultaneously setting said time indicator when said rotor is positioned within the influence of such field, said means including a stop memher for limiting the winding of said spring to a predetermined degree and for limiting the move- 1116115 or" said time indicator to indicate a predetermined position, and means to prevent the reverse rotation of said rotor by said spring upon the removal of said rotor from said field.

3. In a timepi ce, a time indicator, a movement connected with said time indicator for moving the latter at a rate of speed to indicate substantially the correct time, a rotor, means mounting said rotor for rotation by a rotating magnetic field when said rotor is positioned wit n the influence of the latter, means connecting said rotor with said spring for Winding said spring upon rotation of said rotor, means connecting said rotor with said time indicator for moving said time indicator in a reverse-tomormal direction to a predetermined point indicat- "ing a time in advance of'the time indicated at the beginning of said movement and for retaining said indicator substantially at said point during energization of said rotor, means to the position of said indicator at said predetermined pointandmeans to prevent the reverse rotation of said rotor by said'spring upon the removal of said rotor from said field.

4. In combination, a time piece and an electrical Winding unit said timepiece including: a time indicator, a movement including a driving spring connected with said time indicator for moving the latter at a predetermined rate of speed, a rotor adapted to be rotated by 'a rotating magnetic field when positioned within the influence of the latter, means connecting said rotor with said spring'for winding said spring upon rotation of said rotor, and means connecting said rotor with saidtime indicator for moving said time indicator to a predetermined point indicating a second time advance of the time indicated at the beginning of said movement and for retaining said indicator substantially at said point, said winding unit ineluding means in an electrical circuit for produc- 'ing said rotating magnetic field, a switch in said circuit for closingand breaking the same to start and-to stop said rotating magnetic field, and

time actuated means for actuating said switch Torso breaking said circuit at said second time whereby said spring will be released from the influence of said rotor for driving said indicator at said second time.

5. In a watch having a main driving spring, hands, a'center post for said hands and an escape ment movement to control the unwinding of said spring, a rotor journalled in the watch rotatable under the influence of a rotating magnetic field when the same is positioned adjacent such field, a differential including a pair of gears at opposite sides thereof and a rotatable and revolvable pinion between said gears in mesh therewith, a winding train of gears connecting one gear of said pair with said spring, a time train of gears connecting the other gear of said pair with said escapement, one of the gears in said winding train being secured to said center post for actuating said hands, and said rotor being connected with said pinion for driving the latter to cause actuation of said winding train for winding saic spring and for moving said hands independently of control of rotation of said center post by said escapement.

6. In a watch having a main driving spring,

hands, a center post for said hands and escapament movement to control the unwinding of said spring, a rotor journalled in the watch rotatable under the influence of a rotating magnetic field when the same is positioned adjacent such field,

a diil'erential including a pair of gears at opposite sides thereof and a rotatable and revolvable pinion between said gears in mesh therewith, a winding train of gears connecting one gear of said pair with said spring, a time train of gears connecting the other gear of said pair with escapement, one of the gears in winding train being secured to said center post for actuating said hands, and said rotor being connected with said pinion for driving the latter to cause actua tion of said winding train for win ng said and for moving said hands independently of ccntrol of rotation of said center post by said escapement, a stop for limiting the winding of said spring and the movement of said hands.

'7. In combination, a watch including: a movement having a driving spring, time-indicating hands, a magnetically driven rotor connected to said spring and to said hands adapted to wind said spring and to move said upon being rotated in a predetermined direction, and stop means to limit the winding of said spring and the movement of said hands to a predetermined setting, and an enclosing case; and a separate winding unit for said. watch comprising a clock including a support for said watch. case, a magnetic-neld-creating unit to create a rotor-rotating force with said watch positioned on said support for driving said rotor, and control means to energize said magnetic-field-creating unit for a predetermined time interval prior to the time indicated by the aforementioned predetermined setting of said watch.

8. In combination, a watch including: a movement having a driving spring, time-indicating hands, a magnetically driven rotor connected to said spring and to said hands adapted to wind said spring and to move said hands upon being rotated in a predetermined direction, and stop means to limit the winding of said spring and the movement of said hands to a predetermined setting, and an enclosing case; and a separate winding unit for said watch comprising a clock including a base adapted to receive and support said watch, a magnetic-field-creating unit to create a rotor-rotating field to drive said rotor in said predetermined direction, a switch controlling the flow of electric current through said unit, and clockwork-actuated means to close said switch for a predetermined time interval prior to the time indicated by the aforementioned predetermined 8 setting of said watch and to open said switch at the end of said time interval.

9. In a watch, a movement including an actuating spring, a multiplicity of fiat gears driven by said spring and rotatable in parallel planes, said movement also including a magnetically rotatable rotor connected to said gears to wind said spring by reversing the direction of rotation of said gears, said rotor being rotatable in a plane parallel to said planes, said rotor being positoned at one side of said movement, time-indicating hands rotatable in planes parallel to said parallel planes and positioned upon the opposite side of said movement from said rotor, said hands being connected through said gears to said actuating spring for conjoint rotation in both directions and in a fixed relationship in which movement of said hands is accompanied by movement of said spring and vice versa, a stop to limit the winding of said spring to a position in which said hands occupy predetermined positions, and a case for said movement having a side extended adjacent said rotor and adapted to support said movement with said rotor in position to be acted upon and rotated by an exterior magnetic field.

10. In a watch, a movement including: a frame having front and rear spaced parallel plates and gears rotatably supported between said plates for rotation in planes parallel thereto, time-indicating hands supported by said frame adjacent the outer side of said front plate for travel in planes parallel to the planes of said gears, a rotor connected to said gears adapted to be rotated in one direction only by an exterior magnetic field and supported by said frame adjacent the outer side of said rear plate for rotation in a plane parallel to said parallel planes, a driving spring connected through said gears to said hands for simultaneous conjoint movement under all conditions and connected to said rotor to drive said hands and to be wound upon the rotation of said rotor in said one direction, a stop fixing the wound position of said spring with said hands indicating a fixed predetermined time; and a case for said movement including a side adapted to support said movement with said rotor in position to receive magnetic rotational force in a predetermined direction from a magnetic field of known characteristics.

11. In a watch, a movement including: a frame having front and rear spaced parallel plates, gears rotatably supported by said plates for rotation in planes parallel thereto, time-indicating hands supported by said frame adjacent the outer side of said front plate, an escapement, a main spring between said plates connected for fixedrelationship conjoint movement through said gears to said hands, and also connected through said gears to said escapement, a magnetically driven rotor carried by said frame adjacent the outer side of said rear plate in position to be acted. upon with minimum interference by an exterior magnetic driving field, said rotor being connected to said gears and therethrough to said hands and to said spring and adapted to rotate both upon being itself rotated in one direction in which it rotates said gears in a direction opposite to that in which they are normally rotated by said spring, a pawl to prevent the rotation of said rotor in the opposite direction, and a stop to limit the winding movement of said spring by said rotor to a position in which said hands occupy preselected positions; and an enclosing case for said movement including a supporting side adjacent said rotor to support the latter in force-receiving relation to a driving magnetic field.

12. In combination, a watch including: a movement having a driving spring, a magnetically driven rotor to wind said spring to a fixed position, time indicators connected to said spring and movable therewith to preselected positions, stop means to stop the winding of said spring upon said time indicators reaching said preselected positions, and a case having supporting means to support said rotor in a predetermined position; and a winding unit for said watch comprising a clock including a base adapted to support said watch with said watch-supporting means resting thereon, a magnetic-field-creating unit positioned in said base under the watch when positioned thereon adapted to exert a rotating force on said watch rotor to wind said watch spring,

and a time-controlled unit controlling the energization of said unit and limiting it to a time period ending with the time indicated by said time indicators in said preselected positions.

ANTON R. NELSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 31,009 Dennison Jan. 1, 1861 1,372,256 Strommer Mar. 22, 1921 1,672,802 Chiroi June 5, 1928 1,795,189 Warren Mar. 3, 1931 2,003,163 Warren May 28, 1935 2,146,499 Butherus Feb. 7, 1939 2,167,829 Faller Aug. 1. 1939 2,363,726 Greene Nov. 28, 1944 

